Jen Miller is the Events Director for Materia Music and someone who quite literally brings video game music from our screens to the real world. With a deep appreciation for gaming culture and the communities that surround it, Jen spends much of her time connecting fans with the music they love by bringing Materia into spaces where those communities gather. From comic conventions to anime and gaming expos, she leads the planning, logistics, and on-the-ground execution that turns a booth into a hub for discovery, conversation, and fandom.

Materia Music is a label and creative collective dedicated to celebrating video game music and the composers behind it. Through Materia Store — one of the world’s most complete destinations for video game music fans — they offer officially licensed vinyl, CDs, cassette tapes, and sheet music, helping preserve and share game soundtracks in physical form for collectors and enthusiasts alike.

Naturally, when she's not at a convention talking video games she's playing them. As heard from her directly, "right now I am revisiting Fallout 4, after I replayed Fallout 3 and New Vegas while waiting for season 2 of the Fallout show on Prime. My favorite series is The Last of Us, I have a whole tribute wall in my office, as well as a large tattoo on my back. I am also a huge fan of the Uncharted series, Days Gone, the Horizon series, and Resident Evil." She also loves watching movies, TV shows, and playing with her three cats. Jen and her wife relocated to Southern California last year, and fulfilled their dream of becoming Magic Key Holders (annual pass holders at Disneyland), which they use frequently.

How did you get into your industry / What motivated you?

I worked in a record store when I was a teenager with my friend, Heidi. We were basically selling duplicate copies of her dad's records. Watching movies like Empire Records as a teen made me want to work in a record store a lot.

I actually fell into my current role in a very weird way. I had lost a job due to COVID in 2020, and had been unemployed for a while. I saw a job listing for a shipping assistant at a video game music record label. I started there, and quickly worked my way up to managing our warehouse and shipping.

In 2022, we exhibited at our very first convention, Anime Expo. We did extremely well, and I took over all the planning for future events. I was doing both warehouse/shipping and events for a couple years, and finally moved into the Events Director role in 2025.

What is a day in the life like?

If I have an upcoming event or events, I am making sure I have completed the following things: the warehouse team has picked and packed the products I need, I have transferred all the stock internally, everything is priced correctly, my revenue projections are correct, travel and lodging have been booked, costs are on track, information is updated, all my staff has all the information they need for the events they are staffing, ensuring shipping has been set up and is on time, etc. It's a lot.

Each day varies, I am never doing the exact same thing. If I don't have an upcoming event, I am researching and strategizing how to make upcoming events successful or finding new events to exhibit at, or organizing the company storage unit in SoCal.

In your opinion what has been your favorite / the coolest thing you've worked on?

During GDC last year, we had an artist visit our booth several times. I ended up talking to him more than anyone. We ended up putting out his debut album last year, (digital release in October 2025), and it's being released on vinyl for Record Store Day! So look out for RONIN: Cyberpunk 2077 by Angel of Man! Also, while working conventions, I get to meet a lot of really cool celebrities I look up to. Just chatting with them is always a high point of any event I attend.

What has been / is the most difficult part of your job?

Making a role out of nothing. The Events department didn't exist at our company, and I manifested it out of nowhere. After the five events we completed in 2022, I realized I was passionate about it, and that it was something I wanted to do. We spent 2023 ramping up our convention presence, and have been improving each year.

We are confirmed for fifteen events so far in 2026! Trying to make sure I am choosing best selling products for each event, that the booth layout makes sense and works for customers, and that each event is successful, have been the hardest things to learn. I don't know anyone who has a job exactly like mine; there's no rulebook to follow, so I have had to kind of make it up as I go.

What advice do you have for someone wanting to get into pursuing what you’re doing?

Reach out to anyone you may know in the industry, they may be willing to advocate for you and help introduce you to people outside your current network that can help you more in the long run!

Honestly, I have been thinking about writing a how-to guide for what I do specifically. I explain my job to other Events Directors or those in the events field, and they are perplexed at all the work I do myself. It's not like any other job I've had. I am the head of the Events department, but am also the entire Events department.

As for tips - reach out to anyone you may know in the industry, they may be willing to advocate for you and help introduce you to people outside your current network that can help you more in the long run! I personally would love to help more women in the industry!

Are you a vinyl collector yourself? What drew you to it? If not, why the vinyl industry?

I absolutely love vinyl. I started collecting here and there when I was a teenager. I got more into it as I got older, and now that I work for a video game music record label, I have way too many.

I just think that vinyl itself is so cool. I know how it works, it has been explained many times, but every time I think about it I just think it's magic. The variants are so cool looking. It's quite a heavy hobby, but I love it anyway. Nothing quite compares to the sound of music coming off a record.

What types of things are happening in your industry / with vinyl that you’re excited or worried about? i.e. innovation, or trends you’re seeing.

I am always worried that the economy is going to tank our industry. Vinyl is a want, not a need. People buy it because it's cool, not because they can feed their families with it. More and more people are getting into vinyl collecting though, and people who play video games love the music on its own.

Who has been influential to you and your growth as a professional in this industry? 

Can I say a co-worker? Is that tacky? My co-worker and friend, Steve Thiriot, has taught me a lot of things I didn't know about the vinyl industry. He works most events with me, and we have a way of brainstorming the best ideas together. He's been in manufacturing for a long time, so he is my go-to when I have questions about anything vinyl related.

Anything else you’d like to add: 

This is our first year appearing at "the BIG show" San Diego Comic Con! The waitlist for exhibiting is about five years, but we made it after three years of applying. I am both very excited AND very overwhelmed with exhibiting at SDCC. It might just top PAX West as our best event of the year.

We also just booked our very first wrestling convention in Las Vegas in April. The crossover between video game fans and wrestling fans is pretty high.